TAMPA, Fla. — A lot has changed for many of us during the coronavirus pandemic, and for some, that’s meant changing careers.
Ashley Pelegrin was a bartender at Thirsty First. She says when she found out she was out of work, she wasn’t sure how long this would last and how coronavirus would change everything.
"Once I realized that this was going to be a little bit longer of a shutdown than I was hoping for, I started reaching out to people letting them know I’m looking for any side work," she said.
She said she started doing odd jobs like painting houses and walls to stay afloat for now. She might go back to bartending now that restaurants are opening back up, but she’s also looking for other jobs just in case things don’t work out in her current field.
"We opened back up at 25 percent capacity because we’re a restaurant bar, but I decided to wait a little bit longer to go back," Pelegrin said.
And, she’s not the only person changing career paths for the time being.
"The numbers of phone calls and emails, it’s exploded," Dr. James Goode said.
Goode is the principal of Erwin Technical College. He says the college has been getting many calls to register for classes since the pandemic began.
"In that time frame since people have been home, there has been a great interest in technical trades, so we have seen an uptick in people interested in trade schools," he said.
While Goode couldn’t say exactly how many more registrations they’ve gotten, he says it's noticeably more than they are accustomed to. The campus is closed right now, and some classes are postponed, but the college also offers online courses.
CareerSource Tampa Bay also says it offers training opportunities and will have some virtual job fairs coming up. And, the organization has courses for those who have been out of the workforce for a while.
They’re also offering courses to help you if you’ve been out of the workforce for a while. For more information, head here.
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